A Fable

The young woman waits at the city’s eastern gate as the last of the crowd returns. She retrieves the crust of bread from an inside pocket. Eating the bread, she runs through the streets toward a group of poor, injured people. They talk about the leader of the mutinous regiment; many of them have relations or lovers in the regiment. The young woman’s name is Marthe. Together with her sister Marya, she is the half-sister of the corporal who led the mutineers. They walk through the streets with his wife, visiting a communal food kitchen where they are treated with scorn. They offer to share their food with the scornful townspeople “for a share in [their] fire” (219). The offer is refused. Amid the uproar, they are chased away and intercepted by a military patrol. They pass by the patrol and hide in a stone stable stall. After some time, Marthe announces that they must see the Mayor.

The mutinous regiment is placed in a hastily constructed prison camp, under the watch of Senegalese guards. Unexpectedly, the guards lead them out of the camp and then abandon them. The men begin to fall wordlessly into their own formations of squads and platoons.